Another Year Wiser Or Something
by Nozomi-sama
Summary: Where the ocean waves meet the shore, a party rages under a dark night sky. SasuSaku. NaruHina.


i've left the fanfiction business behind. i'll be uploading fics that had previously only been posted on my lj. thanks for your support and all, guys! C:

{ written 03.29.09 as a birthday fic for rebellia. }

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto.

******Another Year Wiser (Or Something)**

The young night is rich with the sultry music that gushes from the speakers and the bonfire light lancing through the darkness. Tonight celebration has spilled out of the beach house onto the sandy shores under the sky. Teenagers are shouting the birthday song at the top of their lungs. Words are being slurred, abused, misplaced. Someone is drunkenly shrieking for the birthday girl to flash them.

If there's one thing Yamanaka Ino knows how to do, it's how to throw a kick ass birthday bash for her best friend. Haruno Sakura couldn't have asked for a better birthday party. She almost starts crying when Ino rolls the giant cake out.

"Happy birthday, Sakura," Ino exclaims, her raucous voice overwhelming even over the din of the singing crowd. There is an explosion of applause, cheers, and whistles all around her.

As she begins to cut the cake, much to the uproarious approval of the assembled crowd, someone is starting up the singing again. Ino is the first to shove cake at her and the first to smudge icing all over her face with a devious giggle that Sakura shares with her. Naruto comes out of nowhere, curls an arm around her shoulders, and squashes cake against her lips. Like shards of blue sky, his eyes glimmer. "What are you planning?" the birthday girl asks suspiciously, knowing her friend all too well.

He only snickers before vanishing amongst the throng of party guests. As if on cue, cool fingers grasp her wrist. Somehow it's not surprising when she looks and Sasuke is there. She smiles at him. Can she help it if her heart beat ups the tempo a little at the sight of him? "Happy birthday," he says quietly.

They stare at each other in silence. They are the eye of a wild, jubilant hurricane of liveliness that surrounds them so completely. In the comfort of their own little world, Sasuke leans in and kisses her cake-coated mouth softly. Her heart feels like it will explode from an overload of happiness. Her brain is so addled with giddiness that she could dance like a goddamn fool right now and not even give a damn. Instead, she throws her arms around Sasuke's neck and kisses him back with the feverous passion of a thousand, colliding suns while the party rages on all around them.

Hinata watches them over the crackling fire and wishes she could have something like that. In this storm of people, she is a lost soul. She casts a wistful glance at the bright-eyed boy she loves. When he stumbles in his dancing, she giggles quietly into her hand. When he catches her staring, she lowers her eyes and flushes bright red. When he waves, she waves back shyly.

"Let's dance, Hinata!" Naruto is exclaiming suddenly, catching her hand in mid-wave. He has a habit of sliding suavely into your personal space when you're least expecting it. Against his charming smile and sparkling personality, the poor girl can't resist even though public humiliation is one of her greatest fears.

Completely unprepared for the frenzied movement that her crush calls dancing, Hinata stands there awkwardly. Body heat is rolling off the crowd in waves and there isn't enough oxygen to go around, but she seems to be the only one who cares. "Uhh, N-Naru-"

Naruto cuts her off by doing what he does best: he shocks everyone. When he yanks Hinata into a fast-paced ballroom dance, the people around them stop to stare. Like a ripple, their reaction spreads. Hinata thinks she might die, as her face burns unnaturally red. While she feels like a limp rag doll, the blond boy dances just like a pro.

People are bursting into cheers by now as Naruto guides Hinata across a dance floor of sand. Everyone who isn't an idiot (obviously eliminating the blond boy himself) knows about Hinata's crush. There's some snickering behind hands and Hyuuga Neji is frowning like an overly concerned parent, but everyone is happy for her.

For a grand finale, Naruto spins her out, spins her in, and lowers her into a twirling dip before bringing her up for a daring kiss. The color that flames the shy girl's face is a rocket-launch off the spectrum of red. Nothing connects for a moment. Then squeals and shouts of approval roar throughout the area. All Hinata feels is the gentle caress of their touching lips.

Sakura is the first to consider their privacy. Although she would like nothing better than to fangirl over the romantic scene that has unfolded before her, she declares, "Everybody in the water!"

All at once, there is a sudden rush towards the sea. Clothes are flung off of bodies as the partygoers make a frenzied dash for the rolling waves of blue. Sakura shoves Sasuke forward she realizes that he doesn't plan on thrashing around in the water with everyone else. "You are going," she tells him with an air of finality.

Only begrudgingly does he strip down to his swim trunks and splash out into the deep blue. Sakura leaps in after him, laughing. The exuberance in the air catches on like an infectious disease. Sasuke smirks as he instigates a vicious water battle with Sakura. She shrieks as droplets scatter into her hair and sends liquid spray all over as she flails her arms wildly in retaliation.

Listening to the wild bursts of noise, Naruto and Hinata stroll down the beach along the wet sand. Waves wash up against their ankles. The swell of the water as it kisses the shore muffles their voices.

Sakura pauses in her hectic assault against Sasuke to watch the shy girl and the loud boy. Bathed in the moonlight, they resemble a happily ever after straight out of a book filled with fairy tales. She would be jealous if not for the gentle hands gripping her hips and the warm lips tickling her bare shoulder.

The night is growing old but it is colored in brightly by the boisterous noise of youth.


End file.
